User interface for allowing a user to navigate through electronic information sources and on-line services are known in the art, i.e. web browsers for navigating through the Internet. In such a user interface, a user typically manipulates the position of a cursor on a display screen and selects icons or symbols displayed thereon to manipulate the displayed data or link to another information source, or web page.
To provide additional flexibility and ease for the user, a user interface may divide a single display into a plurality of independent frames wherein each frame is associated with a different information source. For Internet applications, each frame may be associated with a different data source. As such, a user may change the contents of a particular frame and link to other data sources from that frame independently of the other frames. Similarly, each section of a display or screen may correspond to a different web page, displaying different information from different web sites.
From a user interface perspective, the use of sections, for example, frames can be problematic. The user must be able to move the cursor from frame to frame. However, there is no embedded control allowing the cursor to jump from frame to frame. This is not an issue when a mouse trackball or other similar devices are used, as such devices allow the user to move the cursor freely across frame borders.
However, a problem arises when the system does not include or provide for such devices. For example, such a situation may arise in an arrangement wherein a standard television is used for browsing the Internet and the associated support system does not provide for a cursor which can move freely across the display screen. In that case, the user must use direction arrows and a selection button, or other similar devices, on a remote control device in order to select icons or symbols in a frame and move from frame to frame.
One solution to this problem is to provide a keyboard wherein a particular keystroke combination moves the cursor between frames, i.e. CTRL+arrow key. However, this requires the user to either memorize a number of keystroke combinations, which the user may find difficult to remember, or keep referring to instruction notes during operation. Further, this solution cannot be used if the user must rely entirely on a remote control device.
Another solution is to force the user to scroll through an entire frame, i.e. to the top or bottom edges of the frame, in order to move to the next frame. However, from a user's point of view, having to scroll through an entire frame can quickly become tedious and unacceptable. In addition, the contents of a frame may be lengthy and the user may run out of patience from reaching the end of the frame.
In another example, EP-A-0773-495, discloses a known user interface system having a display with one or more display sections. In particular, one of the display sections has a navigational symbol on a border of the display section. However, the symbol is merely used to scroll the content of the window up and down and not for other navigational purposes.